Mancini: We warned Vieira!

[Del Juve 1]

Roberto Mancini bitterly criticised Patrick Vieira and Raymond Domenech for the midfielder’s new injury scare. “They should’ve been more careful.â€

Inter publicly asked France boss Domenech to spare Vieira for the second Euro 2008 qualifier with Scotland after he had already played 90 minutes against Italy, but they were ignored and now Vieira is out for anything up to three weeks with a new muscular strain.

“I spoke to Patrick when he returned. He is not in good shape and in no condition to play,†confirmed Mancini in today’s Press Conference.

“It is a great shame not to have him, as he was only just coming back from a long-term lay-off due to two serious injuries. It’s not easy to sit out and I understand how he feels. Clearly, he could have been a little more careful and so could the Coach…

“We had even sent one of our fitness Coaches, Professor Claudio Gaudino, to speak with the France staff and ask him to rest Patrick in the Scotland game. That was only because he had not trained in two weeks and was not ready for two matches in four days.

“If you watched him carefully against Italy, you’d see Patrick remained in the central area without ever pushing or trying to sprint for 20 metres. That shows his condition was not good, yet it went well enough and he could have avoided the second game.â€

The Nerazzurri are particularly irritated by this setback, as they also lost Cristian Chivu to a shoulder injury he sustained on international duty and Marco Materazzi is out for several months after his thigh injury when playing for Italy.

“It is not easy for a player to stay away from his national side, especially if it’s something he really cares about,†continued Mancini.

“It is important to carefully evaluate the physical condition of the players and we did everything possible with France. We sent our fitness staff over to explain the situation and even had the two doctors talk to each other.â€

To add insult to injury, Domenech told the French media after the 1-0 defeat to Scotland on Wednesday that he knew Vieira was not in good shape.

“That doesn’t count for much now. We must bear the brunt of the damage, because now Patrick will be out for a while. We asked Vieira to be careful and let us know, then we were in contact throughout the week. We could not have done more.

“Patrick probably felt good after the Italy game and that lulled him into a false sense of security, as otherwise I doubt he would have risked playing. Perhaps he should have been more careful. Now I don’t know how long he’ll be out for. We don’t want to rush him back, as that would be acting like Domenech. Our objective is to get him back so he can be useful for the team.â€

The issue has also been raised in Spain, where Barcelona President Joan Laporta has demanded remuneration for players injured on international duty.

“If people were just a little more careful, they could avoid many problems to players who, at the end of the day, are the ones who never want to back out,†insisted the Inter boss.

“Anyone who has played football knows this. But Coaches need to focus on the long-term. In fact, now we lose Vieira, but France could also not have him ready for their next matches.â€

Adriano took a knock to the back during training this week, but is called up for Sunday’s Serie A encounter with Catania.